Just another idea : I have used dental wax. Comes in a package of about 20 sheets pf pink wax, each 7.5 cm x 14.5 cm x 0.2 cm. It's a little bit more pliable than the waste paraffin, but not as cheap :-) I cut it in a long rectangle so that it sticks out of the formalin with the tissue at the bottom end , rather like celery in a Bloody Caesar. Margaret
>>> Bob Richmond <rsrichm...@gmail.com> 19/04/2012 4:44 PM >>> Karen Heckford HT ASCP CE at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco asks: >>Does anyone know where to get specimen boards that you can pin specimens to and then submerse in formalin? I ordered them a long time ago and cannot remember where I got them.<< I've solved this problem several ways. Probably the best, which has already been mentioned, is to have blocks cast from waste paraffin, in several sizes, and pin the specimen to them with those T-shaped steel "map pins" and put it face down in the fixative. You can also use cardboard or styrofoam. You may need to put a weight on top of the pinning board. Most specimens need fixing overnight. You can ink before or after fixation. Most of the pathology services I've worked in do not have such pinning arrangements and do not welcome them. Does anyone know what the Hospital Administrator and Lab Manager's Handy-Dandy Manual for Tying the Pathologist in Knots has to say about them? (The top-secret book they all have in their desk drawers.) Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Knoxville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
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